Talking to my children in the car on our way to drop them off at school is an insightful way for me to learn about all the things I loved when I was their age while listening to what they love so much.
A topic of discussion that I brought up was a Big Wheel. After I Googled Big Wheel and showed them what it was, I explained the pure joy of riding that plastic 3-wheeler up and down my block in a convoy with all my friends.
That larger-than-life front wheel spun round and round as I heavy-footed the pedal up and down our block. Boy, we wore out that sidewalk. We drove in cadence, zig-zagged without crashing, and went all day.
"Daddy, those are kids on that. I can't believe you were that little once!"
I chuckled. It was a different time and place than the life they lead now. We hadn't ushered in the technology aspect of life just yet. This decade was the age of cassette tapes and Sony cassette players. I mean, no one was impressed with a Radio Shack Commodore Computer or an Apple 2 computer at the time. We were forced to play outside and utilize our imagination daily. We built forts, ran in sprinklers, and built imaginary cities in mud and dirt so we could toss our action figures around.
"You guys have no idea what it was like to be outside from early day until the last minute of sunlight."
"Dad, are you going to start talking about how things were different when you were young again?"
I didn't have to explain my fascination with youth in-depth. The joy in my voice wasn't filtering out any details of my past youth. I talked as if I were playing 80's music from my mouth. Even though we are now in a different time and they are doing other things, I am on their side regarding bottling up youth and recognizing its power.
I may be getting older, and times have changed, but the life I'm peddling is like that Big Wheel that drives life. That joy I convey to them isn't lost to my boys because they hear the inflection in my voice and know the glorious time it was for me when I was their age.
"We are in these periods of life that I enjoyed when I was your age," I said. "We will never have them again. This is the time to really understand your moment in life and realize that these moments are gone as sure as the day that leads us to the next morning. Cherish these car rides to school with me because someday you'll look back on them as some of your favorite memories of us."
There was a long pause from Christopher and Nico. The enthusiasm seemed to be sucked out of them by my oxygen-consuming rant. Or maybe I killed the moment with such profound insight. I probably got too nostalgic for them and lost their concentration somewhere in my interpretation of what they need to cherish and not. Maybe the term convoy was still on their mind. These 8 and 10-year-old boys will never know life without a smartphone.
"Dad, I won't forget this time either."
I smiled and didn't say a word. I knew that even as an adult if I just kept peddling my Big Wheel of life as hard as I could, we would always have these moments. Moments that we 3 will never forget.
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